Wednesday January 17, 2018

Outdoor adds up: Eight years of revenue growth

OMA: “We continually invest in our platform to ensure we are delivering more to advertisers”

The out-of-home (OOH) industry has announced an increase of 6.03% on net media revenue for 2017, posting $837.1m, up from $789.5m for 2016, signifying the industry’s eighth consecutive year of growth.

Quarter four 2017 saw an increase of 4.5% on net media revenue year-on-year, posting $252.7m, up from $241.8m for 2016.

Digital OOH (DOOH) revenue accounts for 47.3% of total net media revenue year-to-date, an increase over the recorded 40.2% for the same period last year.

“These results prove that OOH is a strong channel in the media mix. This is testament to our industry’s drive – rather than resting on our laurels, we continually invest in our platform to ensure we are delivering more to advertisers. We will continue to see this commitment in 2018 and beyond,” said Steve O’Connor, chairman, Outdoor Media Association (OMA).

“We know that OOH audiences have grown by 23% over the last seven years, over-indexing population growth of 14.9%. This continued wave of growth puts us in an enviable position as we head into 2018,” said Charmaine Moldrich, CEO, OMA.

“As the OMA buckles up for an ambitious program in the lead-up to its 80th birthday in 2019, I look forward to another exceptional year of growing and innovating the OOH industry in concert with members and the board,” added Moldrich.

SBS trials slow TV with The Ghan: Australia’s Greatest Train Journey

SBS and The Ghan recently became a talking point on social media after the former aired 17 hours of footage of the train ride. The Ghan expedition from Darwin to Adelaide is 54 hours long. Of this, the 17-hour footage put to air on 14 January on SBS Viceland was all the daylight footage that the producers of The Ghan: Australia’s Greatest Train Journey had.

“SBS is a broadcaster that takes a few gambles and likes to make a bit of noise. And this ticked all the boxes,” Mint Pictures MD and head of programming AdamKay told Mediaweek.

The 17-hour broadcast of The Ghan: Australia’s Greatest Train Journey on SBS Viceland was not in the original plan or pitch. It was to be uploaded directly on SBS On Demand. The decision to air it on SBS Viceland “came about as a by-product of the shorter version, which was three hours long”, Kay said. The three-hour documentary was aired on SBS’s main channel on 7 January 2018. It had an overnight audience of 436,000 for the first leg, 406,000 for the second leg and 392,000 for the third leg.

The three-hour documentary had an average overnight audience of 583,000. The Ghan: Australia’s Greatest Train Journey is SBS’s highest rating program in the last 12 months, based on overnight ratings.

Train programs are popular with the viewers of SBS. BBC’s Great Railway Journeys franchise, shown only on SBS in Australia, is a consistent performer for the broadcaster. “This country definitely has a love affair with trains,” Kay noted.

The telecast of The Ghan: Australia’s Greatest Train Journey started at 3am on 14 January 2018. It took a fly-on-the-wall approach with no narration, giving viewers the space to form their own thoughts and opinions on what they saw. This form of television is called slow TV. It is a format that is gaining momentum in Scandinavia and UK, Kay said.

It took a team of five people to film The Ghan journey. Kay and his crew boarded the train in early July 2017. “Not to divulge all the trade secrets, but we had 15 different camera angles. This includes some angles where we had to make sure that we had two cameras on each angle in case one failed.

“Logistically it was a big challenge, because you couldn’t get to the bulk of those cameras when the train was moving. So we had to make sure that we had systems in place whereby we had back-ups of certain angles and had cameras on timer switchers. We knew exactly when we could get to them at certain points of the journey.

“When the train stopped we would jump off and run up the platform or get escorted through the train by staff members to check as many cameras as we could before the train was off again.”

Shares all people, 6pm-midnight, Overnight (Live and AsLive), Audience numbers FTA metro, Sub TV national Source: OzTAM and Regional TAM 2018. The Data may not be reproduced, published or communicated (electronically or in hard copy) without the prior written consent of OzTAM

Tuesday fta

Nine News Nine 937,000

Nine News 6:30 Nine 915,000

Seven News Seven 840,000

A Current Affair Nine 776,000

Seven News / Today Tonight Seven 757,000

Cricket: BBL Game 30 – Session 2 Ten 673,000

Seven’s Tennis: 2018 Australian Open-Night 2 Seven 663,000

ABC News ABC 628,000

Cricket: BBL Game 30 – Session 1 Ten 615,000

The Big Bang Theory (R) Nine 501,000

Hot Seat Nine 470,000

7.30 ABC 461,000

The Big Bang Theory (R) E2 Nine 449,000

Ten Eyewitness News First At Five Ten 420,000

The Project 7pm Ten 419,000

How To Stay Young ABC 361,000

What Happens In Vegas Nine 334,000

Fake Or Fortune? ABC 322,000

Family Feud Ten 281,000

The Project 6.30pm Ten 278,000

Demo top fives

16-39 Top 5

Cricket: BBL Game 30 – Session 2 Ten 173,000

Cricket: BBL Game 30 – Session 1 Ten 167,000

Seven’s Tennis: 2018 Australian Open-Night 2 Seven 139,000

The Big Bang Theory (R) Nine 136,000

The Big Bang Theory (R) E2 Nine 133,000

18-49 Top 5

Cricket: BBL Game 30 – Session 1 Ten 278,000

Cricket: BBL Game 30 – Session 2 Ten 267,000

Nine News 6:30 Nine 232,000

The Big Bang Theory (R) Nine 216,000

A Current Affair Nine 214,000

25-54 Top 5

Cricket: BBL Game 30 – Session 1 Ten 303,000

Nine News 6:30 Nine 283,000

Cricket: BBL Game 30 – Session 2 Ten 282,000

Nine News Nine 275,000

A Current Affair Nine 261,000

Tuesday multichannel

48 Hours ONE 178,000

Homicide: Hours To Kill ONE 174,000

Peter Rabbit ABC2 170,000

Andy’s Prehistoric Adventures ABC2 164,000

Midsomer Murder 9Gem 164,000

Neighbours ELEVEN 156,000

Dot. ABC2 153,000

Ben And Holly’s Little Kingdom ABC2 151,000

Go Jetters ABC2 150,000

Octonauts ABC2 148,000

Peppa Pig-PM ABC2 143,000

New Tricks 9Gem 143,000

Shaun The Sheep ABC2 142,000

Fireman Sam-PM ABC2 142,000

Peg + Cat-AM ABC2 140,000

Peppa Pig-AM ABC2 139,000

Hey Duggee-PM ABC2 137,000

Kazoops!-PM ABC2 137,000

The Justine Clarke Show!-AM ABC2 136,000

Noddy Toyland Detective-AM ABC2 136,000

Tuesday subscription tv

Paw Patrol Nick Jr. 46,000

Chicago P.D. UNIVERSAL 45,000

Paw Patrol Nick Jr. 44,000

Murdoch Mysteries 13TH STREET 43,000

Paw Patrol Nick Jr. 39,000

NCIS TVH!TS 39,000

Grand Designs LifeStyle Channel 39,000

Paw Patrol Nick Jr. 39,000

American Dad! FOX8 39,000

Family Guy FOX8 38,000

Supergirl FOX8 38,000

House TVH!TS 37,000

The Simpsons FOX8 34,000

NCIS TVH!TS 34,000

Vanderpump Rules ARENA 34,000

The Simpsons FOX8 33,000

Family Guy FOX8 32,000

Blaze And The Monster Machines Nick Jr. 31,000

Seinfeld 111 30,000

Shameless showcase 30,000

TV Ratings Analysis

Primary Channels

By James Manning

There were tennis superstars aplenty at day two of the Australian Open. However, it is fictional movie character Ron Burgundy who created the most buzz when he appeared at Rod Laver Arena where he joined tennis great John McEnroe in Roger Federer‘s post-match interview.

The tennis was again the contributor to Seven’s primary channel win. However, TEN claimed the biggest non-news average audience with a shortened Big Bash League match, which had a session two audience of 673,000.

Seven has reported strong growth across its screens, with OzTAM reporting VPM streaming minutes on day two up 78%.

People not watching the Australian Open or the Big Bash tuned into The Big Bang Theory with the US sitcom claiming two places in the top 20 for Nine.

ABC looked like SBS last night with How To Stay Young at 8pm and then later in the night Michael Mosley’s Secrets Of Food.

The second episode of the SBS doco Marry Me, Marry My Family was the channel’s best last night with 241,000 watching at 8.40pm.

Media News Roundup TUESDAY

Investment

SBS and The Guardian have asked for assistance from a new regional funding scheme.

SBS has warned the government a new “innovation” fund to help regional and small publishers “should not come at the expense of the valued and unique work of public broadcasters”, reports The Australian’sRosie Lewis.

Guardian Australia also pitched to access the scheme after the Coalition decided on strict eligibility criteria, including a “control test” prohibiting media outlets with a foreign parent company from receiving assistance.

Communications Minister Mitch Fifield’s spokeswoman said the $60.4m package, which also contains $8m for cadetships and $2.4m for scholarships, was fully funded with new money allocated in the mid-year budget.

New Brand

The ABC has announced that Stan Grant‘s new program Matter Of Fact will launch on Monday January 29 at 9pm AEDT from Monday to Thursday on ABC News and on iview.

In every program Grant is promising to take a deep dive into a major story. The program will also feature regular contributors covering the economy, technology, history, music and the arts.

Grant commented: “Matter of Fact is interested in ideas – what people know more than what they think. I want to have fun talking to smart people about big things.

“There is too much opinion for opinion’s sake, too much public debate that is just about who can shout the longest or loudest.

“Australians are smart people who are tapped into the world. Matter of Fact will respect that intelligence, not just stoke more anger. If you think you know something, then think again – that’s what I want this show to be about.”

Matter of Fact This Week, a weekly best of compilation, will air on ABC News every Saturday at 9:15pm.

Publishing

Bauer Media’s Cosmopolitan magazine has signed on as an official media partner of the 2018 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

The sponsorship will deliver a month-long celebration of activities in the Parade’s 40th anniversary year. In addition to this, Cosmo will be producing its second Pride Issue for March, which will hit the stands on 5 February 2018.

Fiorella Di Santo, Bauer Media’s GM for fashion, food, luxury and home, said: “The Cosmo audience is growing, with over 1.2 million social connections, and our readers have never been more socially aware. We’re thrilled with this sponsorship as it will allow us to continue to engage, inspire and empower future generations of Cosmo readers.”

Saffron Howden and Remi Bianchi, the founders of kids newsbrand Crinkling News, have pulled the plug on the venture despite raising over $200,000 via crowdfunding in 2017.

In a note to supporters yesterday, the publishers said:

We are very sorry to say we cannot keep publishing the newspaper with the resources we have.

There are big, exciting opportunities out there for Crinkling News and for you, the kids of Australia. But it will need a much bigger business, government or philanthropy to take all the amazing things we have done together and keep the momentum going.

When our personal savings weren’t enough to keep publishing, you put your hands in your pockets and helped us raise money as part of a crowdfunding campaign so we could find new ways to keep Crinkling News doing ground-breaking work.

And we did. That money allowed us to cover news for kids for a further eight months, launch Australia’s inaugural media literacy conference for young people, do the first research into how kids and teens get their news across the nation, and more.

The crowdfunding campaign raised $212,303. Of that we had to pay $19,477 to the crowdfunding platform and the payment processing system used.

Of the $192,826 remaining, $53,133.15 went to servicing new subscriptions to the newspaper and perks that people claimed as part of their crowdfunding contribution.

So $139,692.85 was left as new funds to invest in the continuation and growth of Crinkling News.

Knowing how much our readers value Crinkling News and all the work it has done to improve news and media literacy and give young people a meaningful voice, we hope a larger organisation with deeper pockets decides to build on all of our achievements.

The co-founders can be reached via email at editor@crinklingnews.com.au.

Photo: Crinkling News editor Saffron Howden

Radio

KIIS FM’s new national drive show host, Will McMahon, was hospitalised as a precautionary measure after being involved in a bicycle accident on Tuesday, reports Fairfax Media’s Sofija Petrovic.

McMahon missed his 4pm radio slot alongside co-host Woody Whitelaw on the Will & Woody show after he was hit by a car while cycling to the Melbourne radio station in Richmond.

“He was on a bike,” said Whitelaw. “He’s bike riding to work these days and he did get hit by a car… he is OK, he’s been to hospital, he’s been checked and he’s all clear.”

It is the second week on air for the new KIIS drive show after moving to Melbourne from Perth where they were part of the Heidi, Will and Woody breakfast program on 92.9.

The ABC is next week launching a weekday regional radio current affairs program, Australia Wide.

The 25-minute program will launch on more than 40 ABC regional stations from next Monday January 22 at 6.05pm weekdays.

Stories will be sourced from the ABC’s regional radio network and its national rural and regional reporting team focusing on the issues that affect those living in regional Australia.

The program will be replayed to national and international audiences on Radio National and ABC Radio Australia each weeknight at 7.35pm.

Director of ABC Regional Fiona Reynolds said the conversational style program is a significant addition to the news and current affairs lineup on the ABC’s regional network, providing a roundup of the day’s leading stories as well as breaking news.

“We’ve put a great team behind the program, headed by WA-based presenter Sinéad Mangan and senior producer, Bridget Fitzgerald,” she said.

The program will be produced from the ABC’s Perth studios.

Mangan has held a number of reporting, producing and presenter roles with the ABC in Western Australia during the past 16 years. She has presented the WA Country Hour as well as presenting mornings, afternoons, drive and Saturday breakfast on ABC Radio Perth.

Senior producer Fitzgerald has held several reporting, producing and presenting roles with the ABC in Melbourne and Perth over the past five years. She has recently presented the WA Country Hour.

In March 2017, the ABC announced its Connecting Communities initiative which saw a funding boost of $15.4 million to its regional teams for the creation of up to 80 reporter, presenter and producing roles.

Television

Neighbours’ most infamous homewrecker Isabelle “Izzy” Hoyland, played by Natalie Bassingthwaighte, makes a spectacular return to Ramsay Street in a movie-length special to screen on Tuesday February 13 from 6.30pm on ELEVEN.

Network Ten head of drama Rick Maier said: “Some stories are just too big, too dangerous and too much fun to tell in half an hour. Super-size Neighbours is a treat for all fans of our favourite show.”

Neighbours executive producer Jason Herbison said: “As well as Izzy Hoyland’s spectacular return, the 90-minute extended episode launches a number of exciting new stories involving all our current cast, some looking very different, and a number of past characters will be dropping in. It’s a prelude to what is ahead for the rest of the week, which includes some shocking revelations, intrigue, desperation and of course romance, and there is more to come in the coming months.”

January 18 is a landmark day in Australian TV as it is the day Home and Away launched. The year was 1988, which means it was 30 years ago that Summer Bay first appeared in a daily soap opera.

Mediaweek’sAndrew Mercado, a fan of both Home and Awayand Neighbours, noted that in some ways Home and Away is much more “Aussie” than Neighbours.

“Home and Away helps maintain the impression that it is summer year-round in Australia. It helps promote the myth that all many Australians do is go to the beach!”

Mercado said the show helps promote the iconic sun and surf images that lure tourists to Australia.

He also noted: “Home and Away has proven to be a successful stepping stone for actors wanting to break into Hollywood. Anybody with a couple of years on the series, not just a couple of episodes, is looked on favourably by casting people. Time on a daily soap means you learn to become a very disciplined actor.”

Writer Bevan Lee told TV Tonight, “As I sat down 30 years ago to write the opening telemovie of Home and Away, none of us remotely imagined it would turn 30, still going strong.

“I think it’s survived because it has known its target audience, supplied them with entertaining stories appropriate to the demographic and timeslot and never developed an eroding sense of self importance.

“There will always be a place for a good yarn, well told and that totally sums up Home and Away.

“It has also constantly challenged itself in what is achievable at the rate of five halfhours a week, managing production miracles at times.”

Bauer magazine TV Week has celebrated the anniversary with a special birthday cover and content that highlights the most memorable Summer Bay moments from the past 30 years.

Asian television network AXN is launching its latest original production, The Elements: Cosentino, on January 18 2018.

The series features Cosentino performing street magic and epic stunts against iconic backdrops in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan.

“AXN is all about redefining action and Cosentino is the true embodiment of the channel: he’s adventurous, thrilling, intriguing and full of surprises. As the leader in original productions, AXN has teamed up with Cosentino to create a series that fuses riveting and mystifying illusions in relatable, local settings across the region. We also invited celebrities in four countries to assist Cosentino with his tricks so viewers will be excited to see popular and familiar faces appearing in each episode,” said Virginia Lim, senior vice president and head of content, production and marketing, Sony Pictures Television Networks, Asia.

The four-part series will be themed around the four elements – earth, wind, fire and water.

“I had such an incredible experience filming this series in Asia,” said Cosentino. “Despite the language barrier, people’s reactions to magic are universal – from the kids in Manila to royalty in Malaysia. Magic can truly transcend cultural barriers and that’s what The Elements: Cosentino is all about: uniting the region.”

Sony Pictures Television is handling international sales of the series.

Sports Media

Crocmedia boss Craig Hutchison has looked after one of his own with Jack Heverin to replace Mark Fineas SEN’s evenings host, report News Corp’s Stephen Drill and Scott Gullan.

Heverin has been with Crocmedia since 2012 and impressed as a host and caller, even filling in for Hutchison on his show Off The Bench.

Fine was fired on Monday after 13 years at the sports station.

The evening program will be renamed The Sporting Capital with a push to incorporate more live sport in the 7pm to midnight timeslot.

Fine, who hosted the 7pm to midnight shift, as well as a program after the footy and on Sunday mornings, was philosophical today.

“I wouldn’t have an ego if I didn’t think it was the wrong call, but I respect their right to make the decision,” he told the Herald Sun.

“I’m looking forward to the next challenge.”

In other developments a new one-hour show hosted by Sam McClure will run between 6pm and 7pm.

Ironically he will now go head-to-head against 3AW’s Sports Today – hosted by Gerard Healy and Dwayne Russell – the show which gave him his start in the industry [and a show now also produced by Crocmedia].